Arthritis drugs trigger headaches
Q. I get terrible rebound headaches from anti-inflammatory drugs (both prescription and OTC). My doctors seem to not believe me; instead, they insist that anti-inflammatories are just what I need for arthritis. Have you heard of this, and do you know of any anti-inflammatories that don’t cause headaches when you stop taking them?
A. Joel Saper, M.D., is director of The Michigan Headache and Neurological Institute and past president of the American Association for the Study of Headache. He has long been concerned about rebound headaches resulting from overuse of pain relievers, including anti-inflammatory drugs such as Advil, Aleve or Motrin IB.
If such medications are used more frequently than once or twice a week, they can sensitize brain receptors excessively. Then, as the medicine wears off, the headache recurs. If you have worsening headaches with more frequent drug use, you should suspect this type of vicious circle.
You might consider topical medicine such as Voltaren Gel or nondrug approaches for your arthritis pain such as boswellia, fish oil, ginger or turmeric. We are sending you our Guide to Alternatives for Arthritis with information about home remedies and supplements that you may find helpful. Anyone who would like a copy, please send $3 in check or money order with a long (No. 10), stamped (61 cents), self-addressed envelope to: Graedons’ People’s Pharmacy, No. AA-2, P.O. Box 52027, Durham, NC 27717-2027. It also can be downloaded for $2 from our Web site: www.peoplespharmacy.com.
Q. I have recently been told that water bottles and other types of plastic containers release toxic chemicals when heated. I am leaving on a six-week camping trip and will be taking my needed supplies, including water, in plastic containers.
Do I need to worry about them becoming heated in my car? Will the plastic release toxins into my food and water? If so, is there a safe alternative to metal or glass?
A. Bisphenol A (BPA) used to be a common ingredient in hard plastic (polycarbonate) water bottles. But controversy about this chemical as a hormone disruptor has led many manufacturers to reformulate their containers. For example, Nalgene now makes a BPA-free line of water bottles.
Some kinds of soft plastic may release phthalates if exposed to heat. These plasticizers and other chemicals such as PET have recently been shown to have estrogenic activity when leached into water (Environmental Science and Pollution Research International, May 2009).
Your short-term exposure probably won’t pose a great risk. To be completely safe, though, consider stainless-steel containers. They’re less convenient but are phthalate- and BPA-free.
Q. A friend of mine took Zicam for a cold last fall and the next day woke to find she had completely lost her sense of smell. It has not returned.
Her sense of taste was also compromised, and she has to overseason her food now to taste it. Do you have any suggestions?
A. We don’t know of any treatments to restore the sense of smell. The Food and Drug Administration is now warning consumers not to use certain Zicam products (Cold Remedy Nasal Gel, Cold Remedy Nasal Swabs and kid-size Nasal Swabs). The agency has had more than 130 reports of loss of the sense of smell associated with these zinc-containing nasal products. Unfortunately, in certain cases this reaction seems to be irreversible.